Engadget has reported that Microsoft Edge, a young 3-month old browser has now beaten Mozilla by a margin of 0.4% (Microsoft’s 7.6% vs. Mozilla’s 7.2%). It seems that Microsoft’s bets on Chromium after abandoning its own proprietary platform seems to be working out, for now at least.
It still lags behind Google Chrome’s market share of 68.5%, but for a browser at such a young age, it is performing remarkably well.
There are a few reasons why the new Edge is faring much better than the old one. The main reason is that it is running on Chromium, so no compatibility issues between Microsoft’s Edge and Google Chrome. The speed and the wide variety of extensions available are the same.
When looking back at the old Edge, the browser suffered from a limited extensions store due to it being a different and smaller platform.
For regular casual users, the new Microsoft Edge will be the only browser you will ever need.
This is hardly worrying for Google. While Microsoft may be promoting its own services on Edge such as Bing, Google will continue to gain more substantial control over the net.
According to a report by Digital Trends insiders, the anticipated iPhone SE 2 (Or the iPhone 9) has now entered mass production, with a possibility of an announcement as soon as a few weeks from now. The iPhone 12 however, will be facing setbacks as COVID-19 has temporarily halted manufacturing in China.
Renders showed by OnLeaks have shown that the iPhone SE 2 will look like the iPhone 8, but with the latest specifications. It is expected to be running on the A13 Bionic Chip, the same processor used in the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
There will be two expected variants of the iPhone SE 2, one is a 4.7-inch LCD, the other a 5.5-inch model.
According to Jon Prosser, the iPhone 12 is expected to be announced from November, compared to the usual September announcements we’ve seen in past years.
MacRumors has reported its first leaks on what appears to be a customized version of the HTC Vive controller. Back in 2017, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman previously reported that Apple was using HTC’s Vive hardware for internal testing purposes.
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) March 26, 2020
The controller shown above doesn’t seem to be anything too complicated, which suggests that it is still a prototype. Don’t expect this to be the final version that will be used by Apple’s consumers in the near future.
According to MacRumors, Apple is planning to release this AR/VR headset between 2021 to 2022.
There is also further evidence of this Apple project from an iOS 14 leaked build which contains an AR app codenamed “Gobi”.
As there is no official news from Apple yet, all we can do is wait for further leaks or announcements. Stay tuned and stay safe!
For years, Intel has always been the go-to processor if you wanted to purchase a high-end, powerful laptop. If you look at Apple’s Macbook, Dell’s XPS, ASUS’s Zenbook and other brands’ equivalent, they will always run Intel Series processors.
If you wanted AMD, tough luck, you will have to look at their low to mid-range models. But now, with the release of the ASUS Zephyrus G14, that’s all about to change.
A video by Austin Evans on the ASUS Zephyrus G14.
What’s Unique About The ASUS Zephyrus G14?
The Processor
The architecture on the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS is similar to what you will see on the next generation of consoles (Xbox Series X and PS5) since it is running on the Zen 2 architecture. ASUS has mentioned that this processor is capable of overclocking up to 3.7Ghz even on sustained 100% loads.
And as of writing, it beats every other single Intel Core i9 laptop in the market today according to NotebookCheck’s benchmarks, with a few exceptions. The biggest exception was when the Ryzen 9 4900HS (laptop CPU) was paired up against the Intel i9 9900K (desktop CPU) with a 10-15% difference. In AMD’s defence, it was their 7nm 35 W CPU vs Intel’s 14nm 95 + W CPU.
This is one of the unique selling points behind the Zephyrus G14. According to ASUS’s website, the display has 1,215 individual mini-LEDs that can be used to display custom images and animations that express your creativity and audio visualizations that match music playback.
You can even use this to visualize soundwaves when you’re playing music. There are also planned future updates to send you notifications such as the laptop’s battery life. Pretty neat, huh?
Portability & Design
The ASUS Zephyrus G14 is very lightweight, only at 1.6kg thanks to its machined magnesium alloy chassis, which is much more lightweight than traditional aluminium.
As a professional worker and a gamer, it can be a struggle to find a laptop powerful enough to handle the latest AAA titles yet have the design muted enough that you can bring into the professional environment without drawing too much attention.
The design on the Zephyrus G14 is, to my opinion, one that ASUS has executed perfectly. You will stand out a bit thanks to the AniMe Matrix display, but you won’t distract people in a conference call or board meeting.
The drawback, however, is that there is no webcam attached. You will have to purchase a third-party accessory for the laptop if you wanna use a webcam.
The 76wh battery will give you some good life when you don’t have access to a charger. According to Dave2D, you can expect around 8-9 hours of battery life for regular use.
The laptop also supports USB-C power delivery. Meaning if you’re going to work and don’t want to carry the traditional heavy 180W AC adapter for charging, you can purchase a third-party smaller form factor charger for the office.
However, don’t expect to be able to game while charging on USB-C, as the wattage will not be as high compared to the traditional AC adapter.
Performance and Pricing
Performance is what you’ll expect from a gaming machine. The top-tier model is equipped with an RTX 2060, 16GB of RAM, 1080p 14″ 120Hz panel, 2 fans and 7 heat pipes (for all that cooling).
The price for the model listed above is US$1449.99.
For more information on what models and pricing are available, check out Notebookcheck’s website here.
Made by Nubia, a Chinese OEM sub-brand of ZTE (also another Chinese OEM), this little known manufacturer is making a killer gaming smartphone with top-of-the-line specs.
First off, it has an internal fan for cooling the SoC, allowing your phone to operate in sustained loads (such as playing intensive games) for longer periods of time compared to other smartphones.
Secondly, it has a 6.65-inch 2340×1080 144Hz OLED display. This super smooth and responsive display is what you would typically see from a high-end gaming laptop. This refresh rate will definitely give you a competitive edge by giving you quicker reaction times to win your game.
It also comes with all the typical bells and whistles for a flagship smartphone, such as Snapdragon 865 5G, 8/12/16GB of RAM, 128/256GB of storage, 4500 mAh battery, Android 10, USB-C, a headphone jack, in-screen fingerprint reader, and 55W quick charging.
The phone is now launched in China but should be available globally around April. Price starts from 3799 Yuan ($540) to 4999 Yuan ($710)
It’s been a year since the Huawei P30 was announced, and the P40 represents the next step in Huawei’s photography focused P series with the introduction of the company’s first penta camera system module and killer Kirin 990 5G capable processor.
Huawei P40 Pro: The Specs
The Huawei P40’s specs are in line with keeping up to date on the latest technologies, plus a few extras.
One thing that stands out from Huawei’s Kirin 990 5G processor is that they integrated the 5G modem into the SoC itself. Samsung and Qualcomm have kept their 5G modems separate for their Exynos 990 and Snapdragon 865 processors respectively.
This should help with battery life through reduced battery consumption. A screenshot can be shown below.
It also has a dedicated WiFi chip through the new Kirin W650, capable of reaching twice the speeds of current competing solutions such as the Samsung Galaxy S20 series.
Huawei P40 Pro: The Cameras
The new camera hardware upgrades on the P40 series allows Huawei to claim the top spot on the camera sensor against Samsung’s S20 series.
The P40 Pro and Pro+ both feature periscope lenses that allow for optical zooms. The P40 Pro and Pro+ are capable of zooming up to 5x and 10x respectively.
What’s new is the dual-prism and dual-mirror setup in the Huawei P40 Pro+. This inventive solution is what allows the phone to provide extreme zooming capabilities compared to the rest of the field.
Coming back, inch by inch
The trade war dispute between USA and China in 2019 has left Huawei in a lurch. For the uninformed, Google is no longer being able to license its apps such as the Google Play Store for Huawei. This is shown in the Huawei Mate 30 series, where it lacked any Google apps.
As a result, Huawei is making bold moves and spending large amounts of resources and funding on developing and getting developers onboard its ecosystem (known as Huawei Mobile Services).
With the launch of the P40 series, the giant tech conglomerate is moving closer on its goal to regain market share outside of China. It aims to provide a competitive alternative to the already massive Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
AMD had found stolen graphics IP posted online, according to a press release on their website. Torrentfreak quickly followed by claiming to have contacted the perpetrated hacker, who has stated that she is seeking for bidders on the IP, starting at US$100 million.
Should there be no bidder, the hacker says that she will just leak everything online. She claims that she found the unencrypted information in a hacked computer/server using exploits.
The leaked was first discovered when the hacker uploaded the source code on Github. The uploaded source code contained information on AMD’s Navi 10, 21 and Arden GPUs.
Interestingly, the Arden GPUs are being used for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox Series X. In contrast, Navi 21 is believed to be used for AMD’s RDNA 2 GPUs. AMD has filed DMCA notices to take down the source codes.
Other sources such as 4chan have now begun to host the leaked information.
Every year, Samsung releases 2 variants of their flagship smartphones. One is their in-house Exynos lineup, and the other is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series.
Samsung’s Snapdragon variant is sold in the USA, and the Exynos variant is sold everywhere else. As these two phones have different processors, let’s see how they fare against each other in performance by conducting a speed test.
The speed test platform that was used is called Speed Test G. This is a new, independent performance test platform that measures smartphone performance by combining the best elements of traditional speed tests and benchmarks. Check out for more information here.
CPU and GPU tests
Based on the video above, the Snapdragon variant was able to complete the test in 1:31.5, whereas the Exynos variant finished it in 2:00.5. This is a jarring difference.
Bear in mind that the price you’re paying for these phones is the same in both variants. You will get significantly weaker performance in the Exynos variant compared to the Snapdragon series.
The test results are similar to last year’s Samsung S10 series. Check out the video below.
Battery Life test
According to Android Central, the Snapdragon variant of the S20 still shows better battery life over the Exynos variant. Samsung is catching up as the differences aren’t as prominent as last year’s, but there is still a gap.
Conclusion
If you are looking to purchase the Samsung S20, I recommend you to go for the Snapdragon variants and forget about purchasing the Exynos versions.
You get more value for money by doing so. However, if you live in a place where you would only get the Exynos variant, at that price point, you are better off with other brands such as Apple or Xiaomi.
Just yesterday on 24 March 2020, Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi has unveiled the Redmi K30 Pro. True to Redmi’s high-spec-low-price philosophy, it is currently the cheapest 5G flagship smartphone that you could buy to date.
It will launch in China on April 4, but there is no word yet for a global version.
Redmi K30 Pro – The Front
On the front, comes an AMOLED HDR10+ certified display with a resolution of 1080 x 2400. There is also the fingerprint scanner which is built into the screen itself.
Like the K20 Pro, the K30 Pro features the familiar pop-up selfie camera at 20 megapixels. This means no punch holes or notches on the front, giving you a nice, clean, uninterrupted display.
Redmi K30 Pro – The Back
At the back, comes 4 cameras, and they both differ depending on which model you go for. Both the K30 Pro and K30 Pro Zoom comes with a 64-megapixel main camera, 13-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. Both will also be capable of shooting 8k video footage at 30fps.
However, the K30 Pro is equipped with a 5MP macro lens. In contrast, the K30 Pro Zoom has an 8MP telephoto lens that is capable of 3x optical zoom and up to 30x hybrid zoom.
Redmi K30 Pro – Internals and Pricing
Both models will have Snapdragon 865, a beefy 4,700 mAh battery and fast charging at 33 watts. It’ll also have a headphone jack (sweet), USB-C, IR blasters and NFC.
It will launch with Android 10 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 11 on top.
In China, the base model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage starts at 2999 Yuan (US$425), with up to 3999 Yuan ($565) for 6GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage for the K30 Pro Zoom model.
The next generation of console gaming has been officially unveiled by the two titans, Microsoft with its Xbox Series X and Sony with its PS5. Let’s see how these two fare against each other with a complete spec table shown below.
Component
Xbox Series X
PS5
CPU
AMD Zen 2 8 cores / 16 threads @ 3.8GHz (5 cores at 3.6GHz w/ SMT)
1TB Expandable Storage (exact match to internal storage)
NVMe SSD Slot
External Storage
USB HDD Support
USB HDD Support
Optical Drive
4k UHD Blu-Ray
4k UDH Blu-Ray
Compared to the current generation, Xbox Series X holds the upper hand over the PS5 for raw specs in most aspects.
While the Xbox Series X looks to be built for power, the PS5 has a different design philosophy by going for speed. This can be shown through its consistent memory bandwidth and fast I/O Throughput on both raw and compressed.
